PROPERTY OF THE 

library of congress 

INFORMATION PROGRAM 
FOR THE 

PREVENTION OF SABOTAGE 


I 


Not for General Distribution 

For the use of media presenting 
information to the public 


- SbS'C ^ 


Prepared by 

The [Office of Program Coordination 
\],S, Office of War Information^ 

In collaboration with 
Federal Bureau of Investigation 
Office of Civilian Defense 
Petroleum Administration for War 













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’ Ul?i£orniation Pr ogram fo r the Preventio n of Sabotage 

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This program book presents a plan for a program of information 
aimed to help lessen the possibility of successful sabotage in this country. 

THE PROBLEM 

Sabotage is always a threat, particularly in view of our enemies’ 
previous record of use of sabotage as one of their major weapons. 

The United States has been very fortunate so far in that we have 
had as yet no foreign directed sabotage loss, thanks to vigilance in pre-war 
years and forehanded action since by government agents. The Federal Bureau 
of Investigation has, so far, kept the situation well in hand with the help 
of Military and Naval Intelligence, Office of Civilian Defense, law-enforcing 
agencies and other government departments. BUT NOW it is felt by all con¬ 
cerned that there’s real need for renewing our vigilance. Because; 

1) A sense of false security must inevitably result 
from so long a stretch of time without anything’s 
happening, UNLESS the importance of maintaining 
vigilance is adequately brought to the attention 
of those concerned. 

2) The enemy himself has given strong indication of 
renewed seal in sabotage efforts. It is an 
established fact that the Germans are turning out 
well-trained graduates of a saboteur school, and 
that some of the graduates may be sent to this 
country. 

3) The enemy has been meeting enough reverses in the 
field so that desperation moves are very likely, 
and one of his favorites is sabotage. 

4) Heretofore, enemy submarines have managed to des¬ 
troy a sizeable amount cf our war materials as they 
wore being shipped to foreign countries. Now, how¬ 
ever, we are beginning to conquer the submarine 
menace, and it is logical to assume that, if the 
enemy can’t destroy the material in transit, he will 
endeavor to destroy it at the source, 

Hence the government agencies concerned are more than ever on 
their toes tracking down all possible suspicious schooling, personnel, etc. 
And an information program is desired to give still wider circulation to 
the subject. 

OBJECTIVE OF INFORMATION PROGRAM 

To impress every citizen in general and key workers in particular 
with the need to step up vigilance against sabotage rather than to relax it, 








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THEM OF THE INFORMATION PROGRAM 

The general theme of the information program on sabotage will 
incorporate the following pointss 

1) WARNING: Sabotage is one of the most deadly weapons 
that the enemy can employ. Cleverly handled, it can 
do as much actual damage as a military campaign, and 
can shatter morale to such an extent that the people 
are easy prey to the onemy. 

2) It is now more important than ever that the United 
States be vigilant toward the possibility of sabotage 
because of: 

(a) the.general attitude of the public that as 
long as there has been no enemy-inspired 
sabotage up to now, that there is little 
danger of it, and 

(b) because we know the enemy is even now trying 
to send their most highly trained saboteurs 
to this country to help turn the tide of war 
back in their direction, 

3) Therefore, we must redouble our efforts to insure the 
continued safety of this country. 

(a) By carefully observing each company ruling 
in regard to safety and watchfulness at 
work. A careless or malicious employee, 
although he is a loyal American citizen, 
can cause as much damage as an Axis sabo¬ 
teur . 

(b) By noting any suspicious or irregular cir¬ 
cumstances and reporting them directly to 
the nearest office of the FBI, without men¬ 
tioning the matter to anyone else, 

CAUTIONS 

It is highly important to remember that we do not want to s tir 
up a wave of spy hysteria . Improperly handled, or overplayed, an anti- 
sabotage campaign could arouse such excitement in the public mind that 
inestimable damage might result. We do not want people to get the erro¬ 
neous idea that the country is filled with saboteurs and that one is prob¬ 
ably lurking around each corner. To create such an impression would bring 
to light thousands of amateur detectives who would hinder the excellent 
work now being accomplished by the government agents. It would also shake 
the public morale and cause everyone to be over-fearful. 







SUGGESTED MEDIA FOR THE ANTI-SABOTAGE INFORMATION PROGRAM 


Because of the above mentioned need for keeping a delicate balance 
in the campaign on prevention of sabotage, we will not carry on a spectacular 
campaign, Fe will, instead, proceed on an even basis, putting across a mes¬ 
sage through a different medium every month or so. Thus we will keep the 
need for safeguarding against sabotage constantly in the minds of the public 
without overloading their minds with it. We propose to utilize the following 
OFI media. 


1) Graphics 

(a) Posters - The Bureau of Graphics has already 
printed a poster on sabotage which was dis¬ 
tributed during the first weeks of July. The 
copy for this poster is virtually a copy plat¬ 
form for our campaign, for it reads as follows: 

"Warning from the FBI. The war against 
spies and saboteurs demands the aid of every 
American, When you see evidence of sabotage, 
notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 
once. When you suspect the presence of enemy 
agents, tell it to the FBI. Beware of those 
who spread enemy propaganda’. Don’t repeat 
vicious rumors or vicious wh ispers . Tell it 
to the FBIl Signed J. Edgar Hoover.” 

Because this copy defines so well the idea we are trying to get 
across, it will be a good idea to start the campaign rolling by distribu¬ 
tion of the poster. 

(b) The Universal Match Company is printing 5,000,000 
match book covers with an anti-sabotage message 
on the cover. These match books will be distri¬ 
buted in New England, and if results of a test 

on the inside cover prove that the message is 
actually read, we can probably get the Universal 
people to cooperate further with us. 

2) Radio 

(a) Spot allocation - we plan to utilize the National 
Spot Allocation program to get across one-minute 
messages on anti-sabotage. (The week of July 26 
has been selected for the first set of these.) 

(b) Special assignments «> Anti-sabotage themes can 
be suggested to writers of prominent radio pro¬ 
grams as possible one-shot outlets for anti¬ 
sabotage messages. 











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3) Motion Pictures 


library of congress 



All five of the major newsreel companies did a 
featurette, released the week of July 4, on the 
identification (fingerprinting) department of the 
FBI. The estimated coverage of these five news¬ 
reels is 70 million people per week. 

The theme of the newsreel was tied up with the 
importance of taking proper precautionary measures 
toward the prevention of sabotage. 

4) News Bureau 


We will work with the News Bureau toward using 
their facilities in getting out material on anti- 
sabotage from time to time. 


Office of Program Coordination, 0? r J 
August 13, 1943 










